A High-Energy Functional Playground at CSUN

Project Site:  California State University Northridge Student Recreation Center

Location: Northridge, CA

Facility Size: 138,000 sqft.

NEW Functional Fitness Playground: 2,480 sqft.

University Recreation | CSUN Debuts Functional Playground from Aktiv Solutions on Vimeo.

CSUN’s award winning Student Recreation Center (SRC) has since its inception in 2012 provided a comprehensive wellness offering for students and faculty alike. The SRC’s diverse facility channels an energizing and community-building environment. Given its ongoing commitment to connecting students to health and wellness, CSUN began to re-think a rare, but underutilized space within the greater facility in hopes of transforming the space into a dynamic functional training zone.

Staying on trend with today’s explosive functional fitness modalities, the new training area was designed for multi-faceted programming and serves as an interactive connection point for classes and between friends.

Aktiv® worked closely with SRC leadership to transform the underutilized space into a high-energy functional playground, becoming a communal training zone to support various fitness experiences. The Top Level Training Zone is powered by a Gym Rax® Triple Bridge system that sets the stage for a multitude of programming and opens the space up for students to further expand their creativity in training. A Gym Rax Vertical Ascent further enhances this Functional Training Ecosystem® to allow for more obstacle-centric training workouts including rope climbing and advanced monkey bar circuits.

CSUN has now created the Strong Matador Challenge – a fun, engaging obstacle course that includes: the Rope Climb, Low Crawl, Farmers Walk, Rungs of Wrath, Slackline Balance Beam, Angles Steps and High Hurdles, and a Push-Pull Sled.

What was once a dormant space is now an energizing, functional solution that attracts a camaraderie of fitness enthusiasts to collaborate and engage in a myriad of workout experiences.

Notable Awards:

• Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Status Certification
• 2014 Los Angeles Architectural Awards
• 2013 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Education Facility Design Award
• 2013 American Institute of Architects (AIA) San Fernando Valley, Design Award – Citation
• 2013 National Intramural – Recreational Sports Association Outstanding Sports Facility Award
• Athletic Business 2012 Facility Merit Award
• 2012 American Institute of Architects (AIA) San Diego, Design and Vision Award – Citation
• 2012 San Diego, Design & Vision Award – Committee of the Environment (COTE) – SD
• 2012 Pacific Coast Builders Conference – Gold Nugget Award for Greenest Sustainable Commercial Project
• 2010 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Orange County – Design Award, Merit
• 2009 American Institute of Architects (AIA) San Fernando Valley – Design Award, Citation